Ore-agitator.



A. W. WARWICK. ORE A'GITATOR. I APPLICATION FILED nov.1o,' 1911. 1,054,6Q9. Patented Feb. 25, 1913.

2 SHEETS-SHEET l.

INVENTOR WITNESSES 1 A. W. WARWICK.- ORE AGI'IATOR. APPLICATION IiLED NOV. 10,-1811'.

WlTNESSE:

barren STATES PATENT onnion;

ARTHUR W. WARWICK, OF COLORADO SPRINGS, COLORADO, ASSIGNOR TO ARCHIBALD C. SHENSTONE, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.; JOSEPH N. SHENSTONE AND EVA SHEN- STONE EXECUTORS OF SAID ARCHIBALD C. SHENSTONE, DECEASED.

ORE-AGITATOR.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 25,1913.

Application filed November 10, 1911. Serial R0. 659,494.

To all whom it may concern."

Be it kno n that 1,-AR'1'HUR \V. \VAR- wicn, a citizen of the United States, residing in Colorado Springs, in the county of El Paso and State of Colorado, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Ore-Agitators, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to an agitating tank for agitating and intimately mixing finely crushed ore particles with a solution of a chemical or chemicals, and has for its object to provide an apparatus wherein such agitation and intimate mixture are per: formed efficiently and rapidly, and the chemical reaction between the ore particles and the active solvent is thereby hastened.

The invention consists in the provision in such agitating tank of a lift pipe which is closed at the top and open at the bottom and which has lateral perforations arranged below the level of the material being agitated, and in the provision of means whereby the said solution and the finely crushed ore (which together are hereinafter called the pulp) are caused to circulate up wardly through the said lift pipe through the perforations in which they are projected radially and settle.

The invention also consists in the provision of auxiliary air injectors arranged below said lateral openings which aid in hastening the said chemical reactions.

1, illustrating .a modified form.

These and otherobjects, which will be hereinafter referred to, are fully described in the following description.

The drawings accompanying this application illustrate a desirable and practical apparatus embodying the said invention.

In the said drawings-I ignre 1 illustrates a vertical section of the agitating tank and connections. Fig. 2 is a plan view thereof. Fig. 3 is a detail section of the upper part of the lifting pipe. Fig; 4; is'a detail view of one of the axuiliary air injectors. Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. V Fig. 6 is a similar view, illustrating another modified form.

In carrying my invention into practice an agitating tank which may be of any desired form is fitted with a lift pipe which capped at the top and open at the bottom and has lateral perforations. The

in the foot a top is located below the level of the material being agitated and means are provided for forcing such material upwardly through the liftpipe whence it projects outwardly through the said openings in a radial direction. Various means may be employed for this purpose. An air lift may be employed or a screw propeller located in the pipe, or the pulp may be taken from the top and pumped up through the said lift pipe. In connection therewith I preferably employ auxiliar'y air jets which are located near the lowest.part of the tank, and preferably above the bottom of the lift pipe, and which very readily keep the pulp or very finely divided and light part thereof in suspension. The heavy, coarse or gritty particles of the pulp subside rapidly to the bottom of the lift pipe there to be picked up by the air jet or pulp jet or sucked up by-the propeller. The material thus lifted is forced out of the lift pipe radially across the tank to fall through the pulp in an irregular and possibly zigzag manner against the air bubbles set free 'by the auxiliary air jets. Where the air is employed as the lifting medium in the lift pipe it ascends upwardly from the lateral perforations therein in a curved direction, and assists in agitating the more finely divided particles which are held in the upper levels of the material being agitated. By means of the foregoing it will be seen that in a comparatively short period of time every particle of solid material will have been passed through a fresh volume of solution, thus particularly hastening the chemical action of the solution upon the solid material.

The particular apparatus employed by me to carry my invention intoeffect comprises a tank A which may be of any suitable form or construction and may very well take the form illustrated in Fig. 1. wherein a cylindical body a is joined to a conical base a, whichmay be supported in any suitable manner, as for instance upon the foot .(1- Within the said tank and preferably centrally disposed therein, as illustrated, is the lift pipe B which is open at the bottom for the admission of pulp from the tank and is supported in any suitable manner, as for instance upon feet 6 which rest upon ledges The upper end of this lift pipe is closed, preferably by a cap 0". and

, pipe 0.

upon the side thereof near the top are perforations b which are illustrated as extending in two annular rows about the said lift pipe. The said perforations are preferably disposed close to the top of the lift pipe and are located well below the level X of the pulp in the tank A. In the particular instance illustrated such perforations are substantially two-tl'iirds of the height of the said tank. Means are provided for holding the said lift pipe in position comprising braces 0'' attached thereto and to the tank, as indicated in Fig.

Means are provided for causing an upward circulation of the pulp in the lift. pipe Band in the form illustrated in Fig. 1 such means comprise an air injector (1 which is located at the bottom of the said lift pipe and is arranged to inject a current of air upwardly therein. This is supplied. with air through pipe 0 which may transmit air under pressure from any suitable source, as for instance a centrifugal fan or blower 0 The air passes u 'nvardly through the lift pipe drawing in pulp at the bottom thereof and causing an upward circulation of the pulp therein, and both air and pulp emerge through the perforations 1/ where they are projected laterally. The air then takes an upward course as indicated by arrows, Fig. l, and assists in agitating the finely divided pulp above, while the heavier ore particles settle through the pulp toward the conical base and an active and etlicient agitation of the pulp is thereby realized.

To assist the agitation, I preferably provide auxiliary air injectors D. As illus trated, the said air injectors are located upon an air pipe (I which is connected by outside connections (Z to the compressed air Any suitable number of such air injectors 1) may be employed, depending upon the capacity of tl'ie'apparatus. They are preferably lo 'ated in about the position shown in Fig. 1, wherein they are adjacent the conical bottom a and project downward.

The outlet of the said auxiliary air injectors is preferably covered bya screen (Z which 'may be made of suitable textile or fibrous material not too close in texture. Canvas bags made of No. S canvas have heretofore been found suitable for this purpose.

The dimensions which the said apparatus will assume are subject to variation, depending upon the particular uses or needs of the engineer. I have found that a tank constructed to agitate 100 tons of finely pressed ore and 200 tons of solution for example may be made 18 feet in diameter in the cylindrical portion, and 10 to 1.5 feet from the bottom of the cylindrical portion of the said tank to the apex of the conical bottom. The lift. pipe in such case may have a diameter of about 10 inches, and the i therein.

16 in ach row. The perforations are about two inches in diameter. The employment of six auxiliary jets will satisfactorily perform the function assigned to them. These jets may well be made of one inch iron nipples which may be suitably secured in the ring (.Z, as for instance by being screwed The pipe (Z would have a proper dimension if constructed of two and onehalf inch pipe.

In Fig. 5 I have illustrated an apparatus constructed according to my invention, wherein the orerflow of pulp is caught at the top in a funnel I), whence it is conveyed by pipe 0 to a centrifugal pump F and thence through pipe f to the injector C. In this form the agitation of the pulp is acw coi'nplished-by pumping the overflow of thd pulp directly upward through the-lift pipe B, whence it passes outwardly through the perforations b and thoroughly agitates the mass. Air under pressure is supplied through the auxiliary air jets D, as before described, and acts to agitate the pulp and to cause descending heavy or. gritty particles which are passed out through the perforations in the lift pipe to meet fresh partieles of solution and thereby hastening the chemical reaction.

In Fig. 6 I have illustratedthe emplovment of other means for producing the circulation through the lift pipe B. Here a screw propeller G is employed for this purpose. This is located at a convenient por tion of the'said lift pipe. As shown, it is substantially half way up. This propeller is supported upon a'shaft g and is turned from pulley g. It passes through a perforation in the cap 6 and passes through a stutling box 9 upon, the said cap and is supported thereon by a disk 9 secured to the said. shaft. In this form the auxiliary air jets are notillustrated, and my invention is not'necessarily limited to the employment thereof, although I have found them very advantageous, nor is my invention limited to the particular manner of effecting the circulation through the lift pipe.

Although in Fig. 6 I have illustrated the screw propeller as being operated by a shaft from above, the location of this shaft is not a matter of moment, and it can as well he introduced otherwise than as shown. Nor is it to be inferred from the particularity with which I have described detailed features of construction that; my invention is necessarily limited thereto, as equivalent perforations may be in two rows as shown, I closed at the top and open at the bottom and has lateral openings, and means forjcausing a circulation through said pipe.

2. An agitating tank having a lift pipe closed at the top and open at the bottom and having lateral openings formed in said lift pipe below the normal level of the material being agitated, and means for causing a circulatio-n through said pipe.

3. An agitating tank having a lift pipe closed at the top and open at the bottom and having lateral openings formed in said lift pipe which are below the normal level of the material being agitated, means for causing a circulation through said pipm a series of auxiliary injectors arranged below said lat eral openings and adapted to agitate the material below such openings, and means for injecting agitating material theretln-ough.

4. An agitating tank having a lift pipe closed at the top and open at the bottom and having lateral openings formed in said lift pipe which are below the normal level of the material. being agitated, means for causing a circulation through said pipe, a series of auxiliary injectors arranged below said lat.-

eral openings and adapted to agitate the material. below such openings, screens for said injectors, and means "For injecting agitating material theretln'migh.

5. An agitating tank having a lift pipe, the upper end of which is below the normal level of the material being agitated, and which is closed on top and open at the bottom and is provided with lateral openings near the top, the lower end of said lift pipe 3 u 'nvardly projecting air injector located.

within the lower end of the pipe down wardly projecting auxiliary air injectors lo cated near the hotton'i of said tank and means for injecting air into said upwardly projecting injector and into said auxiliary injectors, and fabric screens for said downwardly projectinginj tors.

In witness wher signed my name in the scribing witnesses.

Ali'llll i it. lVXhIVi/TCK.

W itnessee A. K. Guinean ll. A. .hllixiinn.

h a re hereunto I csence of two sub-- 

